Fan Zhou

Born in Lanzhou, China, she graduated from the Accademia Verdiana at the Teatro Regio di Parma in 2020 and was a member of the young artists program at the Accademia del Teatro alla Scala (2021–2023), under the guidance of Luciana D’Intino. She also furthered her training through masterclasses with Renata Scotto, Raina Kabaivanska, Mariella Devia, Barbara Frittoli, Gregory Kunde, Raúl Giménez, Michele Pertusi, and Pietro Spagnoli. Her numerous international competition awards include the role of Musetta at the 75th AsLiCo International Competition, 2nd prize at the 56th “Voci Verdiane” International Competition in Busseto, 2nd prize at the 15th “Magda Olivero” Competition, 2nd prize at the 13th “Salvatore Licitra” Competition, 3rd prize at the “Nicolaj Ghiaurov” Competition, 1st prize at the “San Colombano” International Competition, 3rd prize at the “Fausto Ricci” Competition, and 2nd prize at the 29th “Marco Koliqi” Competition. She made her debut at La Scala in the 2021/2022 season as Elisetta in Domenico Cimarosa's Il matrimonio segreto, conducted by Ottavio Dantone and staged by Irina Brook, and took part in the world premiere of Pierangelo Valtinoni's opera Il piccolo principe. At the Piermarini, she also performed La Modista in Nino Rota's Il cappello di paglia di Firenze, Schiavottella in Leonardo Vinci's Li zite 'ngalera, and, as the only soloist with the theater's Baroque Ensemble, she performed programs entirely dedicated to Vivaldi, Handel, Bach, Scarlatti, and Pergolesi for three consecutive years.
She has also debuted in several leading roles in numerous theaters, including Violetta in La traviata at the Teatro Morlacchi in Perugia, Musetta in La bohème at the Teatro Sociale in Como and throughout Lombardy, Serafina in Gaetano Donizetti's Chiara e Serafina at the Donizetti Festival in Bergamo (conducted by Sesto Quatrini, directed by Gianluca Falaschi), a production released on DVD by NAXOS, and Armida in Rossini's opera of the same name at the Royal Opera Festival in Krakow.